Friday, August 9, 2013

On the Way to Cape May with the Characters in Hyde

In Demon, I had my characters stop by to visit my home town of Wildwood. In Hyde, most of the story is set in another little town in South Jersey that is close to my heart, Victorian Cape May. Today I thought I'd take the time to show you some of the sights of Cape May, many of which helped to set the scene for the final book in the Dark Musicals Trilogy. But before we go sightseeing, enjoy this classic song, On the Way to Cape May.

As soon as you enter the streets of Cape May, its like stepping back in time. The streets are lined with beautiful homes, painted in pastels and lined with gingerbread trim. These homes have stood the test of time, many standing over a century or more despite being battered by hurricanes and tropical storms including Super Storm Sandy. Here are a few of my favorite houses.

These
horse and buggies might be pretty to look out, but as the gang in Hyde
discover, its no fun getting stuck behind one of the road.

This
is the parking lot in Cape May where Justyn has to leave his Mustang in
Hyde. With limited parking space in the city, most of the local
businesses pay for passes for their employees to park here. See that
brown building in the background? That's the insurance agency where I
worked for ten years. My husband used to park in the city lot next store
to my office when he was a chef in Cape May. Our cars were parked nose
to nose for years, but with different schedules we never met until we
tried internet dating. Behind the parking lot and my old office are some
lovely marshes that are a great place to dump bodies.

In
Hyde, Justyn and Becca get a job at a dinner theater in Cape May. In
the story, the name of the establishment is Tamilio's, named after my
step-father Fernando who is their boss. The description of the theater
is a combination of these two buildings--a real dinner theater in Cape
May called Elaine's and a bed & breakfast called the Sea Mist that
Fernando used to own. As mentioned in the story, both these buildings,
and many of the Victorian structures in Cape May, are believed to be
haunted.

There are lots of other fun stops in Cape May. If you ever visit the Jersey Shore, be sure to stop by and visit, just watch out for the ghosts. To learn more about the town, be sure to pick up your copy of Hyde today.